Chocolate
by McGonagall's Bola
Summary: Hermione and Minerva have finally gotten married, and there's expansion to the family on the way... HG/MM /Sequel to: Wait/ -REWRITTEN!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: To Feel

"Enjoying ourselves, are we?" Hermione questioned, looking down upon her wife with a smile, before licking the remaining chocolate ice cream away and digging her spoon into the bowl again. Minerva mentally shook her head and sighed with happiness. It would have been quite soon in the eyes of others. Minerva had just barely gotten through the series of chemotherapy and radiation therapy, having been seriously ill and later having had to be taken to St. Mungo's after a while, because her body just hadn't appeared able or powerful enough to continue with it all anymore. It had been only barely, but when the chemotherapy and radiation therapy had discontinued, Minerva slowly but surely had gotten more like herself again. There of course was a chance for relapse, but after four months of chemotherapy and two of radiation therapy, the nurses at St. Mungo's, and Poppy herself had diagnosed Minerva cancer free. Minerva often described the therapies as possibly worse than the cancer itself – hideous, even – but another two months had already resulted in Minerva feeling much like herself again. Her cheeks had become fuller like before, and she generally had put on a bit of weight again.

That's why about two months after Minerva had finally gotten the 'all healthy', Hermione had asked Minerva to marry her. She certainly had been taken aback, but had eventually said yes. It had been quite funny to see the wonderful Professor McGonagall stammer.

While the therapies had lasted of course Minerva hadn't felt much like being intimate, even though she had needed the cuddles and hugging more than ever. That night, when the decision to get married had been made, the couple had made love again for the very first time in over half a year. Both women had gotten married secretly the week after, just under the two of them.

"Mmm," Minerva replied, shaking her head slowly and rubbing it into Hermione's swollen belly. She was now about six months along, and if you felt very carefully, you could begin to feel the acrobatics of the little one growing in there. Of course it was commonly known that magical babies often moved earlier on than non-magical. If Minerva thus laid her ear against Hermione's bare tummy, like now, she could actually hear him or her and sometimes even feel something move against her cheek. She very much enjoyed doing that, and Hermione thus enjoyed it as well.

The decision to have a child had come soon after their marriage. The very same night, even. Minerva had somehow gotten to their conversation of months earlier again and had asked Hermione if the next was going to be having children. Hermione had just gazed at her somewhat dazed and had asked if she wanted to actually have them. Minerva had just returned the question, until in the end Hermione had uttered she would love to have children with her, but then again she totally got it if Minerva didn't and all of that.

_Minerva sighed. "Well, it is obvious that even though witches don't age like other women and thus are longer fertile, I'm too old to carry any. I, however, wouldn't consider myself too old to raise them." Hermione's mouth had fallen open at that in near shock. Minerva had sighed once again. "There's indeed a chance for relapse, but during my illness I have realized more than ever that what's worth to fight for. You have strengthened my belief that together there's nothing we can't do. We should go for our dreams. If that's having a child, then… why not? We can do it together. I would love to have a little Hermione, or maybe a little wizard."_

_Tears had coursed down Hermione's face. "Really?" At Minerva's sincere nod, Hermione had fallen into her embrace, nodding eagerly. "Yes. Yes." Minerva had uncharacteristically chuckled, and then suddenly Hermione had parted from her again and had eyed her with that very famous insecure look. "Minerva… are you quite sure? I mean, you haven't really gotten to be yourself again. You…"_

_"Sweetie. We'll have another nine months until the baby's actually there, too. And we'll have to be very lucky to begin with as well."_

_At that, Hermione's smile had become wider, and happy lights had gone on in her eyes. "You're right, but… how?" Hermione had questioned. Minerva had only quirked her eyebrow at her wife, wondering if she really didn't have an idea, considering she had gotten married to an Animagus, who was on top a master and teacher in Transfiguration. She had waited a couple of minutes, until Hermione's mouth had fallen open in a near perfect _o_. Wickedness had soon overtaken, though. Hermione had sensually straddled her wife, huskily whispering, "So in that case how would you feel about beginning to try right now then?"_

_Minerva had chuckled, leaning up to kiss her wife passionately. And oh, had both of them tried for a baby that night…_

And a month later, it appeared that their tries had been successful, when Hermione woke up about five every morning to vomit… She and Minerva just counted themselves lucky that was no longer the case now, even though… other manifestations had announced themselves. You merely had to remind yourself of the bowl of chocolate ice cream Hermione almost continually carried about their loft in the middle of London.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: To Name… or To Wait

Hermione quietly ran the tips of her fingers over the almost abnormally stretched skin of her belly. Eight months of having carried a child into your womb surely had required a lot, but every night when old Minerva curled up against her, laying her head down on her belly to listen and feel like had become their custom, the irritation and thought about her painfully swollen feet and almost continually hurting spine fled. It of course wasn't like Minerva didn't do her best to aid her in any way possible either. She would immediately rush by her side at any wince and suggest a lot of things like a massage, or anything else sounding very appealing. Hermione, however, only allowed her a handful of times. She never wanted to be depending on anyone, and that even was her wife, too.

"Min?"

"Mmm," she muttered, nuzzling into Hermione's large bare tummy, hands delicately on each side of her head, as if shielding their unborn child with herself. When no immediate reaction could be felt or heard, Minerva lazily lifted her head to look at her wife with mild curiosity. "What's the matter, sweetie? Are you hurting a lot?"

"Uhm… not more than usual. I… well…" she began, lightly patting her belly. "Have you given any thought about possible names?" She questioned. "I'm getting nearer to my due date, and… well…"

Minerva's eyebrow quirked, and she quietly rolled off Hermione onto her side facing her, and leaned on her elbow. "Have you?"

Hermione's shoulders shrugged. "Not really." She quietly turned her head to face Minerva. Mocha brown connected with teal green, and both witches delicately smiled. Minerva's hand quietly reached to cover Hermione's, lovingly entwining their fingers and resting them upon her belly. "I never knew you even had a middle name, until we actually got married. I really like it, though: Gaia. I must assume your mother or father was quite taken with Greek and Roman deities."

"Both," Minerva said, almost annoyed. "I never got how mixing up Greek and Roman deity names could be nice, but…"

"I maybe would like to give the baby your middle name, if we are having a girl," Hermione said aloud.

Minerva's eyebrow quirked. "Seriously?"

Hermione seriously nodded. "Yeah. I haven't really agreed on first names, though. I'm sure you wouldn't like either of my suggestions, so I'm wondering…"

"It sure seems like you have given this a lot more thought than me already for sure," Minerva observed.

Hermione blushed upon that and gazed up at the moonbeams splaying on the ceiling overhead for a bit, mindlessly running a thumb over the top of Minerva's hand and running her other hand slowly over her belly, wondering if she would share her thoughts with Minerva or not. She quietly took in some air and directed her eyes at Minerva again – she was still facing her, as if waiting until she would be turning to her again. Sometimes it surely was scary how well Minerva seemed to know her. Hermione sighed. "I have liked the name Emily since forever, for one reason or another."

A smile which held the middle between sadness and joy came upon Minerva's features. "Emily's the name of my late paternal nana. I really like the name as well, but… Have you thought about any boy names?"

Hermione nodded. "I somehow like boy names that end with –er, or –en, like Timber, or…"

"Denver? Leander?" Minerva suggested, and another smile with other origin appeared upon her lips. "Yeah, that sure seemed to be the rage when I first began teaching here. You wouldn't care to really know how many boys with such names I have taught. There were really a lot of them. It is one of these things I'll never forget. Like I'll never forget that year when there arrived about six Emma's either. As a teacher you certainly get what was in just when, albeit a couple of years later," Minerva said and chuckled.

Hermione smiled, too. "I'm curious," she said. "I mean, what are we going to have to begin with of course. Then, however… Whom is he or maybe she going to look like most in appearance and characteristics? I'm so curious about it all. I just hope that this baby is going to look like you in both ways. "

"I'm curious, too," Minerva admitted. "I, however, hope that that baby's going to look like you rather than me." Minerva sighed with happiness and carefully laid her head on Hermione's tummy again. For now, the sounds she could hear inside really had a quite soporific effect. She couldn't wait until that little miracle would have an effect the entire opposite…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: To Rub

"Mmm, that's right," Hermione moaned, arching into the touch of her wife. She was lying on her side facing the window, as Minerva quietly sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed her painful lumbar region. She was having quite a lot of pain there lately, so near her due date. Poppy Pomfrey had announced just Monday that the baby most likely wouldn't wait much longer anymore, considering she had had already two centimeters dilation then. The baby was settled well against Hermione's birth canal, eagerly waiting to announce itself one of these days. "Oh!" Hermione exclaimed and suddenly arched away.

Minerva's eyes became worried. "Sweetie?" No response. "Oh sweetie, are you sure this isn't abnormal?"

Hermione nodded. "Poppy's said it is quite normal considering the weight of our baby and all and my rather petite figure." That of course didn't reassure Minerva at all. She just continued to rub her wife's painful lower back and continued to look worried. Hermione every now and then gasped in pain and then unconsciously reached for her belly, rubbing it. Her intakes of air became heavier as time ticked by, which was more the opposite of usual. Minerva usually succeeded in calming her down well enough. That didn't actually seem to be the case this time. It worried her only more.

When Hermione suddenly reached to rub her belly for about the fourth time, Minerva could no longer contain her concern. "Sweetie. You're in much more pain than usual. Please tell me what's going on."

Hermione was of course about to say something like 'I'm fine', when suddenly a wince of herself interrupted her. Hermione's eyes anxiously widened. "Minerva…" she began, at feeling that sudden unusual pain to her belly, and something wet trickled between her legs. "I… This is something odd."

"What is?" Minerva requested, very worried, face hovering above her wife's, unsure on what to do.

"I…" Hermione whispered, weighing her thoughts before uttering. She quietly rubbed her belly and gazed up at Minerva with insecurity. "I… I believe that… my water just broke…"

Minerva just appeared to ponder about that before her eyes became large, and she worriedly asked, "H–How? You're too early. That's too early. This cannot happen right now. Are you sure that…?" She gasped. "Are you in any pain, that is more than usual? Are you hurting somewhere? I could…"

Hermione interrupted her wife's headless rambles by putting a hand upon hers, and getting her to look into her eyes. "Minerva. Please, don't flip. I'll be fine. Haven't we been waiting for this day for almost nine months now? I'm just giving birth. Women have been doing this for ages, and in times when there weren't as many possibilities as now." At that, Minerva nodded. Hermione never would have guessed that she would be the one to reassure Minerva. She would have guessed that she would be the one losing her head and rational thought over this and not Minerva. She never really had seen her wife like this before, but then again maybe that wasn't so odd. Minerva had experienced herself how easily life could suddenly be over, less than two years earlier. Maybe it wasn't so odd she had become more afraid. After all, she never actually had given birth herself. She never had felt what carrying a child into you could feel like.

Hermione quietly took her lover's hand and lead it to her belly, holding onto it hard as another rush of pain washed over her. Hermione's eyes fell shut as she deal with it internally. She wasn't going to scream… yet, at least. As the pain slowly passed, she again eyed her wife's worried look and reassured her almost inaudibly, "I'm going to be fine, love." She quietly cupped her lover's warm hand. "We better enjoy these last couple of hours with the two of us, because we won't really be for long anymore." Minerva awkwardly smiled, carefully running her hand over her wife's swollen abdomen.

"I love you."

"I love you, too," Hermione whispered. "Alright. You need to go get Poppy for me. I'll need her expertise when it is time for the baby to appear." Minerva nodded. "I'll be fine. It'll be another while before another one comes," she said, referring to aforementioned rush of pain. 'I hope,' she added within herself after Minerva had gotten up and ran to get the nurse after having given Hermione a kiss to the forehead.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: To Live

"Arghh!" Hermione screamed, holding onto the sheets so badly that her knuckles had become white. She fell into the pillows again and uselessly tried to shift in a more comfortable position. "Please…" she begged, eyes wandering to the woman beside her bed: her wife Minerva McGonagall. Mere hours after Hermione's amniotic fluid had gone, Poppy had confirmed she had finally dilated enough to begin pushing. She had done her best to push with the last four contractions, but it didn't seem and certainly didn't feel like anything was moving on down there. Hermione Granger-McGonagall had dealt with it remarkably well thus far, pushing hard when the nurse had indicated to do so every time and no matter the pain, taking on every new contraction and chance to push with new fervor. She, however, was slowly losing it with the baby seemingly refusing to slide further down.

Minerva's eyes showed deep worry. Both women held onto one another's hand. Hermione squeezed hard, eyes begging to be helped. Minerva, however, couldn't do anything to aid, but just be there with her and let her hand be crushed. She squeezed back reassuringly. "You're doing great," she said, "I'm sure that next time he or she'll slide a bit further down," she added, watching Hermione tearfully shake her head in something near despair. Minerva could feel her hold onto her hand tighten and watched how Hermione again squeezed her eyes tightly shut, to deal with the pain of another contraction.

"Push, Hermione," Poppy said.

"I'm right here, sweetie."

Hermione's mocha eyes showed pure hurt as she slowly heaved herself on her elbows again with some help of the nurse and her wife, then bore down once again, pushing with all strength she could possibly muster. When the contraction was finally over, she fell back in the pillows, looking at Poppy in despair. Poppy sighed. "Would you like to try another position?" She asked.

Hermione's head nodded. She was so exhausted and in so much pain… Some wisps of brown were matted to her forehead and cheeks, by a combination of sweat and tears. She couldn't do this anymore. Pushing wasn't really helping either way. Poppy's worried gaze connected with Minerva's then. She nodded.

With some effort both women eventually managed to get Hermione on hands and knees in the middle of the bed, having to stop halfway the turnover for another contraction. Minerva was seated on the edge of the bed, letting her very pained wife hold onto her shoulders for support.

"Alright," Poppy began. "Now…"

Another high pitched scream interrupted her, as another heavy contraction announced itself. "Come on, sweetie," Minerva whispered, leaning over to kiss her wife's forehead and tasting the salt of her sweat. Hermione's eyes fell shut again as she clenched together her teeth, to push. Another scream announced the end of the contraction. Hermione's eyes tiredly fluttered open, averting her attention to Poppy, looking over her shoulder at the nurse.

"You're advancing," she confirmed. "I can already see the head."

"See? You're doing wonderful," Minerva whispered, letting their tips touch comfortingly.

Hermione tiredly panted in her wife's shoulder, a little smile of relief on her lips, until suddenly pulling back, muttering, "Oh fuck…" By now, all three women in the room knew the reason for Hermione's words. She felt another contraction well up and took in the air necessary to push along as it happened, doing her best to shove her son or daughter through her birth canal. As the contraction and the pushing discontinued, Hermione suddenly felt a rather odd sense of relief.

"The head's arrived, Hermione," Poppy announced, what must elucidate the surge of relief. Especially upon Poppy's next words. "The worst's over now. Just one last push for the shoulders now, and the baby's here."

That gave Hermione more reassurance than ever. As she soon felt yet another, hopefully last contraction build up between her legs, she held onto Minerva hard and gritted her teeth, pushing harder than ever before, while still crushing Minerva's hand somehow. "Argh!" She screamed, then fell against her wife entirely soaked with sweat after having been in labor for mere hours, of which almost two pushing. Poppy carefully caught the baby into a towel and raised the baby for both new mothers to see, handing her to a teary Minerva, while coaxing Hermione to sit up a bit again so that she could take care of the afterbirth.

Hermione shivered, watching Minerva carefully hold the bundle for a while, before reaching up to drag away the tip of the towel that shielded her daughter from view. Minerva carefully rocked their little girl, eyeing her with loving eyes. She sobbed freely then, Hermione reaching over to stroke their daughter's cheek, not caring about the blood and slime. Hermione joined into sobbing and crying with pure happiness.

Both women carefully let their gazes wander over the mop of darker hair, the eyes delicately shut and the very characteristic nose and lips… as she cried at the top of her lungs, announcing that she was there. Hermione quietly let her finger stroke over the fat little fingers and tiny finger nails. "Emily Gaia…" she whispered, before looking up at her wife questioningly.

Minerva nodded, not trusting her voice enough to be able to speak. "Pe–Per–Perfect," she stammered and leaned down to kiss the top of Hermione's head. She then inhaled again to strengthen her voice. "I'm so proud of you," she said, then burst into tears again.

Hermione leaned up to kiss her wife's wet cheek. "I love you."

"I love you, too."


End file.
